Goopy Bagha and the Anti-fascist Template

Even though Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen is considered to be a children’s fantasy, it is one of Satyajit Ray’s most political works. There are strong social, political, and ideological messages hidden within the fantastic imageries and songs in the film. What Ray showcases in this film is a pre-democratic society, one which has the full potential to turn into a successful democracy, but only if the masses educate themselves and break free from social prejudices to achieve equality for all. The film reminds us that democracy is hard-earned, and a democratic country is one that upholds a high standard of human rights for all of its citizens. Thus, the songs in Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen (and also in Hirak Rajar Deshe) not only critique the authoritarian government but also advise people on how to participate, potentially building a timeless template for democratic movement and anti-fascism. Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen contends that democracy can be protected only by ensuring freedom of speech and expression (Article 19), freedom of movement (Article 19), freedom of profession (Article 19), protection against arrest and detention in certain cases (Article 21), right to life and personal liberty (Article 21), right against exploitation (Article 47), cultural and educational rights (Articles 29-30), and right to adequate nutrition, livelihood, and public health (Articles 47).

The story of Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen revolves around Gopinath Kyne (Tapen Chatterjee), the son of a poor grocer Kanu Kyne from a village called Amloki. Goopy wants to become a singer but is not particularly gifted. He is persuaded by derisive village elders (Brahmins) to sing for the king uninvited at the break of dawn, a defiant action, which leads to his banishment from Amloki on a donkey. Exiled into a forest of Notun Gan (New Village), he meets Bagha (Rabi Ghosh), an exile from the village Hortuki on account of having no talent with the drum. Now whether you want to read these banishments simply as despotic kings ejecting subjects whose music they don’t like, or authoritarian leaders exiling citizens who “drum” unpopular opinions, these actions mirror modern-day government crackdowns against dissenters, thereby establishing Goopy and Bagha as anti-fascist crusaders.

In the jungle, Goopy and Bagha start singing and drumming, initially to scare off a roaming tiger but end up attracting a group of ghosts who are fascinated by their music. The king of ghosts, mesmerized by their performance, grants them three boons: they will always have enough to eat and decent clothes to wear whenever needed just by clapping their hands, they will always be able to go anywhere by putting on a pair of magic shoes and clapping their hands, and they will be able to fascinate people so much with their music that their listeners will be transfixed while they perform. The morning after the encounter with the ghosts, still displaced and homeless, they travel to Shundi to impress its benevolent king into appointing them as court musicians so they can have a permanent shelter, and they succeed. However, they soon learn that the king of Halla (the long-lost brother of the king of Shundi) is planning to attack Shundi after being brainwashed by Halla’s evil Prime Minister and court magician. The rest of the story details how Goopy and Bagha prevent the attack, reunite the separated royal brothers, and marry their daughters, thereby securing a permanent residence.  

Bhooter raja’s 3 boons: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement, right to food and livelihood

What is important to note here is that even though the king of ghosts blessed Goopy and Bagha, they haven’t quite risen through class hierarchies. The three boons Goopy and Bagha ask for are really the most basic life necessities. They don’t ask for wealth, shelter, immortality, or fame. They only ask for enough food and clothing (Article 47), the power to roam around freely (Article 19), and the power to perform music (Article 19). In other words, they ask for basic human rights as enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Both Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen and Hirak Rajar Deshe make a case for preserving constitutional rights to ensure the smooth working of democracy. In the closing song of the film, Goopy and Bagha declare that they can admonish and eliminate evil people with the help of Bhooter raja’s boons, which are basic human rights, and that’s all they do.  In other words, they can fight fascism only after they are guaranteed constitutional rights.

Mora Bhooter rajar bor er jore porer bhoot charai
R kono kaj nai

Awareness of history to fight fascism

In the jungle of “Notun Gan”, when Goopy and Bagha encounter the King of ghosts, what they really encounter is the ghost of the past, or king of the past, as past and ghost are homonyms in Bengali. Before granting them their wishes, the King of Ghosts presents a dance sequence for Goopy Bagha. In this dance, the haunting repetition of Bengal’s traumatic past is reiterated with the intention of inspiring a sense of solidarity and responsibility toward injustices endured by those long dead. And Goopy and Bagha do seem to establish an immediate camaraderie with or even reverence for the King of ghosts. Perhaps, Ray is playing here with Walter Benjamin’s notion of being accountable to the oppressive past by disputing the history of the victors. The six and a half minute ghost dance sequence (can also be read as the dance of the past) in the film is very significant.

To a casual observer, it may seem like a distraction, but Ray conceives the ghosts as representative from Bengal’s past” (Nyce 115). It is only after encountering the King of Ghosts/past and acquiring a sense of history that Goopy and Bagha are able to banish the darkness of ignorance and gain knowledge of the oppressive caste and class histories. It is after the encounter with the ghost of the past that they are able to assume their new identities through the redemptive power of memory/history. 

Ray understood that there was an intrinsic relation between memory and emancipation on the one hand, and forgetting and victimhood on the other. Just like in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four where the struggle to retain memories becomes an act of transgression against the totalitarian government’s ruthless and forceful attempts to erase memories of individuals, Ray’s attempt to capture specific historical memories of pre- and post-independence India becomes an act of rebellion. 

Goopy Bagha’s transformation from exploited to liberated citizens

In the beginning, Goopy is portrayed as innocent, naïve, and too trusting. When the village Brahmins make fun of his singing and encourage Goopy to sing near the palace at the crack of dawn to impress the King, he believes them. His father, aware of his son’s trusting nature, exclaims, “had God given you a brain, I could have explained to you that they were making fun of you…. But you wouldn’t take the advice of a poor man, oh no—you had to go to the banyan tree to seek the advice of the Brahmins!” In this short sequence, Ray packs the history of the caste struggle in India. The unfair exploitation of poor farmers by Brahmins and royalty exposes the history of casteism. However, Goopy’s failure to grasp the real motive of the Brahmin’s encouragement highlights his lack of understanding of basic class/caste histories in India. His ignorance of history makes him misjudge the king and the Brahmins, ultimately leading to his banishment from the village. 

But in the “New Village”, at dawn after the encounter with the ghosts when Goopy sings he is able to render the only song he knows, the Raag Bhairabi, with artistry. The lyrics of the song remain the same, what has changed are only his voice and the possible knowledge to actually understand the meaning of the song:

Dakho re, noyon mele.
Jogoter Bahar,
(Open your eyes and look at the wonders of the world,)
Diner aaloy kate ondhokar..!
Aha mori ki bahar..!
(the light of day banishes the darkness of the night)

The darkness here signifies ignorance, which can be eliminated only with awareness or access to knowledge and freedom of speech and expression. The awareness of history strengthens them. Once they are so equipped and educated, they are easily able to see through the masks of men. They now have an insight into the world that transcends the limited understanding of time. Time doesn’t bind them. They are able to travel thousands of miles with just one clap and magic shoes. But their stories become important only insofar as they are political activists trying to save the people from the yoke of oppression. Thus, Ray suggests that an awareness of history can protect citizens from getting exploited and hoodwinked by corrupt leaders, and it can be argued that it is the collective awareness of Bengal’s traumatic past with relation to caste and communal violence that Bengal is largely resistant to divisive political rhetoric. In one song in the final film Goopy and Bagha sing: 

Onek chole onek dekhe
(after walking and seeing a lot)
Onek shune onek sikhe
(after hearing and learning a lot)
Kete geche moner andhokar
Moder kete geche moner andhokar
(we have banished the darkness of our hearts)
Mora ekhan jabar samajdar
(We are very well-informed now)

Halla and the authoratarian prime minister

On their spying visit to Halla, Goopy and Bagha quickly learn that the people there are starving and militarized to overtake the unsuspecting Shundi under a zealous prime minister (Jahar Roy). In one particular scene, the prime minister is talking to his spy to Shundi (Chinmoy Roy) while eating roasted meat. The spy longingly looks at the Prime minister’s plate and says, “It’s been a long time since I had a good meal, Sir.” And the prime minister replies, “Why do you people always think of eating? We’ve got a war on our hands (soldiers are dying in Siachen every day), and on top of that a couple of rogues messing everything up and you talk of eating!” Later, when Goopy and Bagha reject the food offered to them by the prison guard, the prime minister forces them to eat the meal saying the “entire kingdom is eating this gruel, who are you to reject? Kings and princes?”. Goopy and Bagha don’t answer, but they quietly escape from prison, not because they are “kings and prices”, but because they know their fundamental rights, because they cannot be silenced or brainwashed (just like Udayan and Charandas in Hirak Rajar Deshe, a teacher and a musician/journalist, the only two citizens who couldn’t be brainwashed and silenced because they were educated).

People in Halla are forced to pay taxes when they can barely find a decent meal. When Goopy and Bagha reach Halla, they see a couple of palace guards imprisoning farmers for defaulting on taxes. A passerby says, “Those who can’t even eat, how can they pay taxes?” It becomes evident that the poor condition of the Halla residents is a direct result of the prime minister prioritizing military and defense needs over the basic needs of the poor (just like PM is prioritizing Central Vista over the basic need of Indian citizens, violations of Articles 39a, 47).

It becomes evident that the Halla army is so malnourished, so underfed, that they are unfit for combat. When the king witnesses the condition of the army, he exclaims, “Are you going to make war with that lot? What if they trip each other up and fall flat on their faces in Shundi? Where will my honor be? I will have their heads chopped off.” 

Look at those soldiers marching off to war.
All those cutting slashing things for making blood and gore.
You can take a beating if your stomach’s full, they say
This lot looks like they will die of empty stomach on the way.

The procession of the starving army with the song playing in the background anticipates “the procession of starving villagers in Distant Thunder walking from village to city and growing constantly larger in size” (or perhaps the 2020 procession of migrant workers from the Indian cities to villages). In fact, the war is suspended when Goopy and Bagha drop hundreds of pots of sweets on the field, distracting the underfed army, who abandon their posts to eat the magical sweets. Finally, Goopy and Bagha abduct the King from Halla and reunite him with his brother in Shundi, before burning the magic powder that the Halla magician had crafted to restore the speech of Shundi citizens. This film emphasizes the restoration of voice, a concept Ray thought was particularly resonant with people who are struggling to repair their violent communities. 

Therefore, just like Bhooter Raja’s boons transformed Goopy and Bagha from talentless musicians to artists with proper access to food, clothing, and freedom of speech, Goopy and Bagha too liberated the army of citizens with food and freedom of speech. His films and songs remain timeless and relevant even in the current atmosphere of regressive politics in India.

The haunting resonated by the ghost dance is not merely a reiteration of the past, but the ghostly dance reenactment of traumatic events from the past troubles the neat boundaries between past, present, and future. When Ray speaks of these fantastic stories, it may seem like they are divorced from reality and irreverent to contemporary political situations. But, since Ray invokes an alternative historical time unhindered by the limitations of modern time, it can be argued that Ray’s criticism has eternal reality. In other words, the ghost dance, or the film by extension, works as an “allegorical frame in which an almost forgotten history becomes newly meaningful as a kind of haunting or ghostly return” (Cua Lim 149). In other words, by disturbing the presumed boundaries between past, present, and future, Ray is able to render his film a contemporaneity. The political Ray is not limited by contemporary politics, and the Goopy Bagha anti-fascist template is a timeless doucment. 

• Cua Lim, Bliss. “Spectral Time, Heterogenous Space: The Ghost Film as Allegory”.
• Nyce, Ben. Satyajit Ray : A Study of His Films. Ben Nyce. New York : Praeger, 1988.
• Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. Dir. Satyajit Ray, Purnima Pictures, 1969. YouTube. 
• Hirak Rajar Deshe. Dir. Satyajit Ray. Government of West Bengal, 1980. YouTube.